Up to 8 weeks off work to care for children

The reconciliation of work and family life is the order of the day and little by little measures are being taken that make it easier for parents to have more time to spend with their children.

The latest step to achieve this is in the new parental leave, detailed in Article 48 bis of the Workers’ Statute, which gives the possibility to all employees who have children under 8 years of age to request up to 8 weeks per year off work for childcare. The downside is, you don’t get paid, but the upside is you get quality time to spend with your child.

This is a key step for family well-being: according to the latest study carried out by the National Commission for the Rationalisation of Spanish Timetables (ARHOE), 6 out of 10 parents feel that they spend less time than they should with their children.

Marcelo Dos Reis, CEO of the SPEC Group, a leading company in the development of time and access management solutions, explains that “this is a very important milestone, both for the well-being of the workers and, consequently, for the well-being and productivity of the company.” Although many may think that the management of these weeks can be a problem for human resources departments, the reality is that “the benefits of being able to enjoy these weeks also have an impact on the company that, through the use of flexible software that fits these measurements, can easily manage these requests,” explains Dos Reis.

But when and how can you request these weeks? The arrival of this parental leave has given rise to a sea of ​​doubts among many employees and parents. From SPEC, they clarify some of the issues in order to provide parents with the necessary information, and companies with the future management of these periods for parents:

Is it for all parents? It is for all those fathers and mothers whose children are under 8 years old. From that age onwards, the possibility of having the leave ends.

Can they be alternate weeks or do they have to be consecutive? The 8 weeks are for each son or daughter, they can be taken either consecutively or alternately and whether the father or mother works full-time or part-time. They are non-transferable weeks and cannot be accumulated. The regulations do not specify whether it can be divided into days.

How to apply? Depending on each company and the system they have through management software, written, oral… Whatever the means, what is mandatory is to request the leave at least ten days in advance or as specified by collective agreements.

Will I get paid during those weeks? Not for now. But the Labour Statute leaves this aspect to future regulatory development, which means that the expectation is that these weeks will be paid little by little in the future.

Can you deny me those days? In the event that two workers from the same company request the same period of time for the same child, it is possible for the company to postpone granting the permit for a period of time as long as it is justified in writing. This will be done when it is considered that granting this time to two workers at the same time alters the proper functioning of the company.

In case of difficulty when managing these requests, Marcelo Dos Reis recommends that companies “have technologies and specialists in time management that can facilitate not only the coordination of these permits, but also vacations or other procedures.”

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